Contents

Game definition

the "uninformed majority" - the good guys, the townspeople, who cannot communicate with one another - in fact, they don't know any identity but their own. Usually called Innocents or Goodies.

the "informed minority" - the eponymous Mafia, the bad guys, who know each other and can engage in BTSC - "behind the scenes communication" in a host prepared environment. Usually called Mafia or Baddies.

The Game consists of alternating cycles of Night and Day (starting with Night 1 in most games):

During Day, everyone votes on one unlucky person to be "lynched" (lynch=publically executed).

So, in essence, Mafia is a game of elimination. The last team left standing wins.

Everything is mediated by the "god of the game", the Host. They design the game, start signups, run the game, etc.

The Roles

It's actually a little more complicated and interesting than that. Each player -- in addition to belonging to a team (faction) which has a goal in mind (often based around killing off the other team/s) -- has their own individual identity, called a role. Each role usually has some kind of ability/property.

E.g:

a Doctor can choose 1 person per night to stand by and save in case that person is targeted by the Mafia.

a Spy can choose 1 person per night to investigate and learn the identity of.

The Specifics

For more specific information, one must read the game that they are playing. The game design will outline the teams and the roles on each team, and most of the rules as well as preferences of the host (for example, what happens in the event of a tie in the daily vote of who to kill).

Summarizing quote

What is Mafia???

Mafia is an epic game of skill, persuasion, deception, strategy, participation, cruelty and cunning. It is a contest of wits; a championship of cleverness. It is intense, unforgiving, relentless, dominating and amazing. Some people have had Mafia dreams. Some people drive across the city to get better wireless to play Mafia. People ignore their workload to play Mafia. Mafia is addicting. Mafia is fun. Mafia is wickedly cool, awesome and pulse-poundingly exciting. If a game is designed well and hosted well and played well, it can be a work of art.